Decades-Old Stationery Store Helps Students Stock Up for the School Year

JACKSON HEIGHTS — G.C. Stationery has been selling school and art supplies in Jackson Heights since the 1930s.

With the the school year about to start, the neighborhood fixture is one of several stores in the area where students can stock up on everything they need.

Greg Patel, 61, has owned G.C. Stationery, at 81-10 37th Ave., for 25 years and says he’s the last remaining store of its kind in the neighborhood.

The shop is stocked with all the necessities for a student, from notebooks and pencils to test-prep books and study sheets. Teachers can also purchase supplies like bulletin boards, which start at around $9.

There are also plenty of high-quality art supplies like oil paints, pastels, brushes and sketch pads.

Crafty types can pick up scrapbook sheets starting at $.89 each, or markers starting at $3.69 each. For the Beliebers, notebooks featuring the Canadian pop star cost $3.69.

“Business picks up the week after Labor Day,” Patel said. “It gets really busy during the first two weeks of school.”

Luis Vasquez, 50, came into the store Thursday with his 10-year-old son, Andrew, who attends the nearby St. Joan of Arc School.

They arrived with a long list of supplies and picked up folders — which were on sale, two for $1 — and notebooks, which started at $1.69.

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